Maruti Suzuki S-Cross long-term review, never judge a book by its cover

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross long-term review, never judge a book by its cover

Overall rating: 4

In our second long-term review update of the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross 1.6 Alpha, we share details on the everyday practicality of the crossover and how it feels to drive in various conditions and how much it costs to run.

It's been a good four months for us with the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross 1.6 Alpha and with every passing day our affection for the car has only increased. Now some of you might be questioning the affection part because you do not find the S-Cross to be a great looking vehicle. Well, in a way that's right since the S-Cross isn't one of the better looking cars in its segment. However, there's a lot more that makes a car good, bad or ugly. And that is the part where the S Cross shone thoroughly.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross gets silver roof rails and black-out pillars

Many of you would've read out first long-term report of the S-Cross earlier. In case, you haven't, please click the link below to know how the ball got rolling when the car was given to us.

In our first report, we established that the S-Cross offers an impressive mix of performance, efficiency and practicality. Having driven it more, we can only say that the impression has been engraved further in our minds.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross has good drivability in traffic as well as on hills, this is due to a 6-speed transmission.

The S-Cross with its 1.6 litre turbocharged diesel engine is one of the most fun-to-drive cars in this price bracket. While there are other vehicles with similarly powered engines, the one in the S-Cross delivers its power in one huge dollop and then follows it up with even larger chunks. Going past 1,500 rpm makes it clear that the turbo is spooling and feeding air into the combustion chamber. Acceleration from this point is devoid of any lag at all, which results in good drivability in traffic and on hills as one doesn't need to shift frequently.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged diesel engine and is fun-to-drive.

Pin the throttle past 1,700 rpm and the car lunges forward, pushing you firmly into the driver's seat. At this point many cars with similar power delivery give you the task of tackling massive torque steer but in the S-Cross there's hardly any so no need to fight a wrestling match with the steering wheel! Power builds up rapidly right up till about 4,200 rpm and starts to taper thereon. The six-speed manual transmission has the right set of ratios to compliment the car's performance and it offers precise and easy shifts.

The Maruti Suzuki's 1.6 litre diesel engine with 118 hp of power is paired to a six-speed manual transmission.

Despite the impressive performance from the engine with 118 hp and 320 Nm of torque on tap, the S-Cross has turned out to be fuel-efficient as well. With almost 3,800 km on the odometer, we've driven the vehicle for another 1,600 km since the last update. During this period we managed to take the S-Cross out on some highway drives, which has improved the average fuel-efficiency from 16.8 km/l in the last report to 18.1 km now. The car continues to deliver more than 16 km to a litre of diesel even in the bumper-to-bumper traffic in Delhi during rush hours.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is fuel-efficient as well and we recorded 18.1 km/l.

Practicality

Since during this period we managed to do some short weekend trips in the S-Cross, we got a chance to test the practicality and comfort for people of different ages and also load the car up to max with people and luggage. With four adults, one kid and a boot full of bags, the S-Cross never felt sluggish even while encountering the uphill roads to Shimla. Six feet tall people can easily sit behind each other in comfort and the boot too can take in a lot of stuff. For a family of five, the S-Cross is the right sized vehicle without any compromises in terms of space and comfort.

In terms of features too, the car is at par with the segment as it features a touch screen infotainment system with navigation and the usual connectivity options too. What really impresses is the infotainment system, which has a simple user-interface and some neat tricks up its sleeve. As we told you earlier, the system can read out your text messages or display them on the screen, based on user input. In addition, the voice command system is one of the few in the market that almost picks up all Indian names correctly!

Round-Up

The S-Cross then as impressed us with its peppy engine, good fuel-efficiency, rich list of features and ample space all around. The car has some good bits too like the soft touch dashboard and auto-dimming rear view mirror, which lend it a premium feel. Some plastics, however, in the lower part of the doors and the dashboard don't feel that premium and leaves scope for improvement. The lack of an automatic transmission too is something that puts it behind its key rivals. That aside, the S-Cross excels in pretty much everything and before you say it again, that doesn't include the design.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross miss out an automatic transmission.

Yes, it isn't a looker but it does have a commanding road presence and exudes a tough character. That brings us to the headline of this story and the S-Cross clearly has proven that judging a book by its cover can be very wrong at times. It may not be the best looker in its segment but the S-Cross definitely is one of the best cars to drive and live with in its price-bracket. We're about to send our S-Cross for a service soon so in our next update, we'll share details on how much does it cost to maintain Maruti Suzuki's first premium crossover.
Maruti Suzuki S-Cross 1.6 Alpha logsheet

Dear Mr. Arpit,
In my earlier mail I have expressed concern about the Cross' engine capacity, I was referring to the 1.3 and not the 1.6.
Awaiting your response.
Regards.
V. Raja.

Reply

V

V. Raja

Apr 18, 2017 at 9:04 pm

Dear Mr. Arpit,
Your review of the S Cross 1.6 is extremely informative.
Am planning to upgrade from my Ritz VXI to a sub four meter SUV or a cross-over. I had the S Cross 1.3, 1.6, BRV IDTEC -V, WRV IDTEC - VX and the Eco Sport 1.5 TDCI Platinum Edition in mind.
My family comprises self, my wife, my 22 years old daughter and my 11 year old son.
After reading your review, have more or less decided on the S Cross 1.6, although I would be stretching my budget. The same applies for the BRV as well.
Would appreciate which would be the best vehicle for me considering I drive around 30 - 35 KMS everyday and a couple of trips of 3000 KMS every year, mostly to hill stations.
My only concern with the S Cross is the engine capacity considering the weight of the vehicle. Would I face any problems, especially during my trips to the hill stations.
Am also worried about the mileage of the BRV and Eco Sport and their maintenance costs as well.
Would appreciate your expert advise.
Regards.
R

Reply

A

Abhishek Sarao

Apr 6, 2017 at 9:41 am

please give a review on 1.3 litre engine and a comparison between the two too. thanks